Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

Manchester City close to matching Chelsea's youth success - Jason Wilcox

Manchester City are aiming to copy the success of Chelsea's youth set-up -- and they are catching up fast, according to their under-18s coach Jason Wilcox.

The two sides meet in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final at the Etihad Academy on Friday night in a repeat of last season's final, which Chelsea won 5-2 on aggregate.

It's the fifth successive appearance in the final for the London club as they aim to lift the trophy for the third time in three years. And it comes four days after they became the first side to win back-to-back UEFA Youth League titles after beating Paris Saint-Germain in Switzerland.

Former Blackburn Rovers winger Wilcox believes Chelsea have set the standard at youth level in recent years but believes his side are ready to knock them off their perch.

Wilcox told reporters: "This season I think we're a better team all round although we had a really good chance last year. The lads set the precedent by getting to the final and what we're trying to do is what Chelsea have done which is get to the final every year and if we do that then we have a really good chance of winning things.

"When you look at Chelsea's record in the Youth Champions League and Youth Cup finals it's remarkable. It's a fantastic achievement and it's one that we aspire to. They are the benchmark of academy football but I'm really convinced that we're catching them up and we're catching them up quick.

"That's healthy for football in this country. The Chelsea staff are fantastic and their academy manager Neil Bath is a great guy and he knows that we've got to push each other. There's a healthy rivalry between the two clubs and that's great."

City have not won the trophy since beating Chelsea in 2008 with a side that featured Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge and Tottenham Hotspur's Kieran Trippier.

Both City and Chelsea topped their regional divisions at under-18 level but Wilcox's side had the upper hand when they met in their final group stage clash, with 16-year-old starlet Brahim Diaz starring in a 4-3 thriller.

Manchester-born skipper Tosin Adarabioyo, who made his first-team debut at Stamford Bridge with a man-of-the-match performance in the FA Cup fifth round defeat to Chelsea in February, played in last season's final defeat and says they must be at their best to win the competition.

Adarabioyo, who joined the club as a five-year-old, said: "Everyone's determined to get the win this time around, we're all very focused for Friday.

"As a captain I've been trying my best to help the younger lads, but we know what we need to do as a team. It's an FA Youth Cup final and both teams will be up for it.

"Both teams are very good sides, but hopefully this year we can get the win. I think being at the club for so long, it means so much to us, we want to do well for the club."

^ Back to Top ^